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Barrington J. Bayley
Barrington J. Bayley (9 April 1937 – 14 October 2008) was an English science fiction writer. Biography Bayley was born in Birmingham and educated in Newport, Shropshire. He worked a number of jobs before joining the Royal Air Force during 1955; his first published story, "Combat's End", had been printed the year before in ''Vargo Statten Magazine''. During the late 1950s, Bayley became friends and a frequent collaborator with Michael Moorcock on features, comics and short stories, chiefly for Fleetway Publications where he was also a regular writer of text stories, some of which have recently been reprinted by Rebellion Books. He later wrote sf stories for New Worlds and Moorcock, who described himself as "the dumb one in the partnership". He, Moorcock and J.G.Ballard met regularly and their discussions and theories led to the development of science fiction's New Wave. His short stories featured regularly in ''New Worlds'' magazine and then later in various ''New Worlds' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Moorcock
Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English writer, best-known for science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has worked as an editor and is also a successful musician. He is best known for his novels about the character Elric of Melniboné, a seminal influence on the field of fantasy since the 1960s and '70s. As editor of the British science fiction magazine ''New Worlds'', from May 1964 until March 1971 and then again from 1976 to 1996, Moorcock fostered the development of the science fiction "New Wave" in the UK and indirectly in the United States, leading to the advent of cyberpunk. His publication of ''Bug Jack Barron'' (1969) by Norman Spinrad as a serial novel was notorious; in Parliament, some British MPs condemned the Arts Council of Great Britain for funding the magazine. He is also a recording musician, contributing to the bands Hawkwind, Blu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victor Gollancz Ltd
Victor Gollancz Ltd () was a major British book publishing house of the twentieth century and continues to publish science fiction and fantasy titles as an imprint of Orion Publishing Group. Gollancz was founded in 1927 by Victor Gollancz, and specialised in the publication of high-quality literature, nonfiction, and popular fiction, including crime, detective, mystery, thriller, and science fiction. Upon Gollancz's death in 1967, ownership passed to his daughter, Livia, who in 1989 sold it to Houghton Mifflin. Three years later in October 1992, Houghton Mifflin sold Gollancz to the publishing house Cassell & Co. Cassell and its parent company Orion Publishing Group were acquired by Hachette in 1996, and in December 1998 the merged Orion/Cassell group turned Gollancz into its science fiction/fantasy imprint. Origins as a political house Gollancz was left-inclined in politics and a supporter of socialist movements. This is reflected in some of the call for the books he publis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Warhammer 40,000 Novels
Following the 1987 initial release of Games Workshop's ''Warhammer 40,000'' wargame, set in a far future military science fantasy universe, the company began publishing background literature that expands previous material, adds new material, and describes the universe, its characters, and its events in detail. Since 1997, the bulk of background literature has been published by the affiliated imprint Black Library. The increasing number of fiction works by an expanding list of authors is published in several formats and media, including audio, digital and print. Most of the works, which include full-length novels, novellas, short stories, graphic novels, and audio dramas, are parts of named book series. The Horus Heresy Novel series *''Book 001 - Horus Rising'' by Dan Abnett (2006, reissue 2018, ) *''Book 002 - False Gods'' by Graham McNeill (June 2006) *''Book 003 - Galaxy in Flames'' by Ben Counter (October 2006) *''Book 004 - The Flight of the Eisenstein'' by James Swallow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Rod Of Light
''The Rod of Light'' is the thirteenth science fiction novel by Barrington J. Bayley and his only sequel (to 1974's '' The Soul of the Robot''). Plot summary The book continues the story of Jasperodus, who is now in conflict with Gargan, a ruthless robot attempting to make his own soul. Literary significance and reception Rhys Hughes described the Jasperodus series as slighter than average for Bayley, covering ground more thoroughly explored in John Sladek's ''Roderick'' series. Similar opinions were expressed by John Clute in ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction''. Dave Langford reviewed ''The Rod of Light'' for ''White Dwarf A white dwarf is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very dense: its mass is comparable to the Sun's, while its volume is comparable to the Earth's. A white dwarf's faint luminosity comes fro ...'' #73, and stated that "Concepts by Jorge Luis Borges, action by Doc Smith, sense of humour Bayley's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Forest Of Peldain
''The Forest of Peldain'' is the twelfth science fiction novel by Barrington J. Bayley. at Internet Speculative Fiction Database Set on the water world of the Hundred Islands, the Arelian empire attempts to seize control of the last island, Peldain, which within its dense forests contains an independent kingdom and an ancient secret. Literary significance and reception Rhys Hughes regarded Bayley as having "slackened off" after ''The Zen Gun
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The Zen Gun
''The Zen Gun'' is the eleventh science fiction novel by Barrington J. Bayley. Background Like many of Bayley's books, ''The Zen Gun'' is space opera with all the conventional trappings: a declining, anthropocentric, Galactic empire loses its grasp on power as it slips into the Long Night of civilization, star fleets with the ability to ravage worlds warp through the void at superluminal velocity and a hyperweapon threatens to end life itself. However, Bayley extensively reworks these ideas for the purposes of his novel: the humans of the galactic empire are seen to have ceded most of their imperial power to evolved animals in an attempt to prolong their decadent existence, Admiral Archier's starfleet has been despatched to collect overdue taxes from colony worlds, the empire have ripped a hole in the fabric of reality and the pseudoscientific belief that gravity is repulsive rather than attractive is literally true. The events of the primary plotline are instigated by a messag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Pillars Of Eternity
''The Pillars of Eternity'' is the tenth novel by the science fiction author Barrington J. Bayley. Background The protagonist is deformed space pilot Joachim Boaz, rescued from his homeworld by the Collonadist philosophers who replace his skeleton with a regenerating artificial endoskeleton and teach that all events are destined to repeat themselves throughout time. After suffering a major accident, kept alive by the endoskeleton, he has become confined to a spacesuit and seeks vengeance on the collonadists by attempting to alter the future, disproving their philosophy. His chance is granted when the Meirjain the Wanderer is rediscovered, a lost planet where gemstones capable of altering the flow of time can be found. Literary significance and reception Rhys Hughes reviewed '' Star Winds'' and ''The Pillars of Eternity'' as "offbeat" but ultimately reworkings of earlier material. John Clute John Frederick Clute (born 12 September 1940) is a Canadian-born author and critic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Star Winds
''Star Winds'' is the ninth science fiction novel by Barrington J. Bayley. In the future Solar System of the novel, humans travel through space using solar sails and, as with much of Bayley's work, alchemy and other pseudosciences play a role alongside more conventional technology. Literary significance and reception Rhys Hughes reviewed ''Star Winds'' and ''The Pillars of Eternity'' as "offbeat" but ultimately reworkings of earlier material. Andrew Darlington made reference to the reworked theme of alchemy (first seen in ''Empire of Two Worlds ''Empire of Two Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English writer Barrington J. Bayley. The main characters are "tankless" inhabitants of a dim and dry colony world who attempt to find a lost gateway back to Earth. Literary significance an ...'') and argued that the first half of the novel, dealing with the actual journey from Earth to Mars, was stronger than the second, which moved out to a galactic venue. Darlington commente ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Grand Wheel
''The Grand Wheel'' is the eighth science fiction novel by Barrington J. Bayley. The novel follows Cheyne Scarne, a professor of "randomatics", as he is selected by the eponymous organization (which holds a galactic monopoly on games of chance) to represent humanity in a card game with infinitely varying rules. The name of the main character appears to be a reference to John Scarne John Scarne (; March 4, 1903 – July 7, 1985) was an American magician and author who was particularly adept at playing card manipulation. He became known as an expert on cards and other games, and authored a number of popular books on cards, g .... Literary significance and reception Rhys Hughes, in his survey of Bayley's work, described ''The Grand Wheel'' as an "entertaining gambling novel" with a "seedy and elegant" atmosphere. Colin Greenland, writing in '' Foundation 18'', received the novel negatively, saying that it had been produced for the market and "would have been old in 1957". Ref ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Garments Of Caean
''The Garments of Caean'' is the seventh novel by the science fiction author Barrington J. Bayley. He described it as being his attempt to create a Vancian space opera. Plot The main plot covers a journey to a crashed planet by a con-man, Rialto Mast and Peder Forbath, a knowledgeable sartorial. They seek to obtain items of fashion from a crashed ship, filled with items of clothing from the planet Caean. Due to the particular nature of the clothing -– so exquisite as to imbue the wearer with certain qualities – on Caean the skill of the designer is such that the title "supplants the functions of psychiatrist, priest, and molder of public opinion." While scouring the wreckage, Peder finds a rare suit designed by the legendary designer, Frachionard. This particular suit is only one of five the designer completed in his life – and is made of Prossim, a material so rare that any one item would be infinitely valuable. Peder commandeers the suit and uses it to scale the ranks o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Soul Of The Robot
''The Soul of the Robot'' is the sixth science fiction novel by Barrington J. Bayley, featuring the character Jasperodus from his 1956 story "Fugitive". The book tells of Jasperodus, the only robot with a soul, as he attempts to prove that he is the equal of the humans around him. It was published in 1974 by Doubleday, with a revised version published in 1976 by Allison and Busby. Literary significance and reception Rhys Hughes and John Clute both felt that this was one of Bayley's lighter yet slighter works, arguing that the themes of the novel were better handled in John Sladek's ''Roderick''. Brian Stableford's review compared Bayley's absurd stylings with that of Alfred Jarry, concluding that the book was "thoroughly likeable.""Soul of the Robot", ''Foundation 9'', November 1975. Alastair Reynolds remembered the "massive enjoyment" he had reading the book and mentioned that Jasperodus had formed part of the inspiration for the character of Hesperus in ''House of Suns ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Fall Of Chronopolis
''The Fall of Chronopolis'' () is the fifth novel by the science fiction author Barrington J. Bayley. It details the eternal conflict through time between the Chronostatic Empire and its enemy, the Hegemony. Literary significance and reception Rhys Hughes, in his survey of Bayley's output, described the novel as "possibly the ultimate time-travel story," noting that, unlike '' Collision Course'', Bayley stuck to his main theme throughout. John Clute John Frederick Clute (born 12 September 1940) is a Canadian-born author and critic specializing in science fiction and fantasy literature who has lived in both England and the United States since 1969. He has been described as "an integral part o ..., in the '' SF Encyclopedia'', reviewed ''The Fall of Chronopolis'' as Bayley's most successful use of the theme of time travel. David Pringle's review described the book as "enjoyable" and made note of the philosophy behind Bayley's intricate time paradox. References {{DEFAUL ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |